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Indian HistoryMediumAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GK

Consider the following statements about the Salt March : 1. The Salt March was deliberately ignored by the European media. 2. The Salt March was widely covered by the American and European press. 3. The Salt March was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large numbers. 4. The Salt March impressed upon the British the urgent need to devolve more power to Indians. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. A.1, 2 and 4
  2. B.2, 3 and 4
  3. C.3 and 4 only
  4. D.2 and 3 only

Correct answer

B. 2, 3 and 4

Explanation

The correct answer is B, 2, 3 and 4. The Salt March drew wide notice in the American and European press, brought women into the national movement in large numbers, and made the British see that they had to share more power with Indians.

Gandhiji set out from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930 with 78 followers and broke the salt law at Dandi on 6 April 1930, starting the Civil Disobedience Movement. Reporters and newsreel crews followed the 24-day walk, and the images of the march carried his message across the world. Women such as Sarojini Naidu and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay joined salt satyagrahas and picketing in large numbers for the first time. The movement pushed the British into talks, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931 and the Round Table Conferences.

Option A is wrong because it includes statement 1, which contradicts statement 2; the march was not ignored by the foreign media. Option C is wrong because it leaves out statement 2, which is correct. Option D is wrong because it leaves out statement 4, which is also correct.

Exam tip: Dandi March = 12 March to 6 April 1930, Sabarmati to Dandi, 78 marchers, about 385 km.

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Q1.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKEasy

The 'water frame' of Richard Arkwright was a device for

  1. A.producing a new type of painting
  2. B.irrigating fields for rice cultivation
  3. C.producing strong threads of yarn
  4. D.the faster movement of steamships
Show answer
Correct answer: C. producing strong threads of yarn

Richard Arkwright's water frame, patented in 1769, was a spinning machine driven by water power that spun strong cotton thread.

Q3.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2016, GKHard

The term Upari refers to which one of the following?

  1. A.A category of proprietary tenure under the Mughal rule
  2. B.A category of tenancy tenure under the Maratha rule
  3. C.A soldier in the Maratha army
  4. D.A village headman in the Mughal period
Show answer
Correct answer: B. A category of tenancy tenure under the Maratha rule

In the Maratha villages of the Deccan, an upari was a tenant who cultivated land without any hereditary right to it.

Q4.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2017, GKHard

With regard to nature of Mughal State, who among the following scholars argued that "the peculiar feature of the State in Mughal India was that it served not merely as the protective arm of the exploiting classes, but was itself the principal instrument of exploitation"?

  1. A.Irfan Habib
  2. B.Satish Chandra
  3. C.Athar Ali
  4. D.J. F. Richards
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Irfan Habib

In his study of the Mughal agrarian system, Habib argued that the Mughal State did not merely protect the exploiting classes but was itself the main instrument for taking the peasants' surplus.

Q5.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKHard

Consider the following statement : "So much is wrung from the peasants, that even dry bread is scarcely left to fill their stomachs." Who among the following European travellers had made the above statement about the condition of peasantry in the Mughal Empire?

  1. A.Francisco Pelsaert
  2. B.Francois Bernier
  3. C.Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
  4. D.Niccolao Manucci
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Francisco Pelsaert

The Dutch traveller wrote these words about the poverty of peasants under the Mughals during the reign of Jahangir.